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Donald Trump and his Republican allies seized on the terrorist attack in New Orleans blamed on Joe Biden and criticized the last of his policies in the final weeks of his presidency.
An event, where at least 15 people diedand the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas has fueled Republican reports that crime is out of control – and only Trump's new national security team and immigration crackdown will fix it.
“About Biden's 'Open Border' Policy I have said, many times during rallies, and elsewhere, that Radical Islamic terrorism, and other forms of violent crime, will be so bad in America that it will be hard to imagine or believe. That time has come. , worse than ever,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday morning.
Trump and others Republicans he initially claimed—falsely—that the New Orleans attacker was an immigrant from across the southern border. Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect authorities say was inspired by the Isis terrorist group to carry out the attack and who was killed during it, was a 42-year-old US veteran from Texas who worked for financial services groups including Accenture. and Deloitte.
On Thursday, the FBI said it acted alone. The agency also said it had not established a link between the New Orleans attack and the Cybertruck bombing in Nevada, which killed one person and injured seven others.
But Trump's allies are still doubling down on Biden's claims immigration policies – or immigration in general – were behind the violence, the lines of attack that Trump used in defeating vice president Kamala Harris in the US presidential race in 2024.
“Islamic terrorism is something that comes from other countries. It's not 'homegrown', said senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller, to X. “It wasn't here before migration brought it here.”
Trump's spokesman, Tom Homan, told Fox News that the US was “compromising” on national security, strengthening groups like Isis. “President Trump will come into office and we will protect that border. We will carry out the eviction process. We focus on and prioritize public security threats and national security threats. “
Republicans close to Trump are trying to capitalize on the attacks to fuel their campaign to secure quick Senate confirmation of some of the president-elect's national security jobs.
Pete Hegseth, Trump's choice for secretary of defense, Tulsi Gabbard, his choice for director of national intelligence, and Kash Patel, his nominee to lead the FBI, are all controversial nominees facing battles for Senate approval in the coming weeks.
“The US Senate must confirm President Trump's national team as soon as possible. Lives depend on it,” John Barrasso, a Republican senator from Wyoming, wrote on X shortly after the attack in Louisiana.
“That's why getting into President Trump's cabinet is so important,” Mike Waltz, a Florida congressman tapped by Trump to be his national security adviser, told Fox News on Thursday. “That should be in the first place, guys, because this is the time, in the transition, to be vulnerable.”
Deep skepticism from Trump's allies in American law enforcement agencies resurfaced after the New Orleans attack. Lawmakers close to the president-elect criticized the FBI for focusing too much on “diversity, equality and inclusion” and its role in the prosecution of Trump by the justice department.
Mike Collins, Republican of Georgia, asked why Alethea Duncan, the special agent of the FBI in charge of New Orleans, initially said that the attack was not a “terrorist incident”. Iowa Republican Ashley Hinson called Christopher Wray, director of the FBI, and Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of homeland security, to testify about the attack on Congress.
“The FBI must regain the trust of the American people. That means FULL transparency and accountability throughout this investigation. It also means ending DEI and its wake-up calls and focusing solely on countering threats to protect the American people,” Hinson wrote in The X on Thursday.
Mr Biden spoke on Wednesday about the attack in New Orleans and the investigation from Camp David, and called his security team to discuss the latest developments on Thursday.
On Trump's side, Waltz has been in touch with Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser, but said they are not counting on the outgoing administration.
“They are trying to gather information. But we are not waiting for what we get in this White House. Everyone has their own feelings so we have to keep President Trump informed as much as possible,” he said.